1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an electronic apparatus having a rotatable element for operation such as a dial.
2. Background
As illustrated in FIG. 6, a conventional electronic apparatus includes an operation dial 101 and a board 103 disposed at the inner position from the operation dial 101. A rotation shaft 105 of the operation dial 101 is provided between the operation dial 101 and the board 103. The operation dial 101 rotates around the rotation shaft 105. This type of electronic apparatus is disclosed in JP-A-2000-133086, for example.
Another example of a conventional electronic apparatus includes an annular operation dial which is rotated for mode setting. This operation dial has a liquid crystal display device on a surface of the annular portion. Compared with the structure in which the liquid crystal display device is provided separately from the dial, this structure requires smaller space for disposing these components. This type of electronic apparatus is disclosed in JP-A-2002-40543, for example.
In these conventional electronic apparatus, however, the rotation shaft of the operation dial projects toward the operator side from the circuit board. Accordingly, the operation dial considerably projects from an operation panel of the electronic apparatus toward the front (toward the operator side). This is not preferable from the viewpoint of design of the electronic apparatus. Moreover, in the structure where the rotation shaft of the operation dial extends toward the operator side, a display component cannot be positioned on the central portion of the operation dial. Examples of the display component involve a VFD (vacuum fluorescent display), an LCD (liquid crystal display), and other devices.